Reviews
Karr could tell you what's on her grocery list, and its humor would make you bust a gut, its unexpected insights would make you think and her pitch-perfect command of our American vernacular might even take your breath away., Mary Karr has written another astonishingly perceptive, wildly entertaining, and profoundly honest book-funny, fascinating, necessary. The Art of Memoir will be the definitive book on reading and writing memoir for years to come., Karr is a national treasure-that rare genius who's also a brilliant teacher. This joyful celebration of memoir packs transcendent insights with trademark hilarity. Anyone yearning to write will be inspired, and anyone passionate to live an examined life will fall in love with language and literature all over again., From a contemporary luminary of the form, Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir examines our enduring drive to make memory speak and to 'wring some truth from this godawful mess of a single life.', Searing. . . . [Karr] has written a book that lassos you, hogties your emotions and won't let you go., Full of Karr's usual wit, compassion and, perhaps most reassuringly, self-doubt. Her fans should be delighted-and they can't go wrong reading the books she discusses, including her own., Affecting…. Karr's lurch toward faith is narrated with her familiar irreverence and humor, but this tone does not preclude a more heartfelt expression of the value of faith., Karr is a national treasure--that rare genius who's also a brilliant teacher. This joyful celebration of memoir packs transcendent insights with trademark hilarity. Anyone yearning to write will be inspired, and anyone passionate to live an examined life will fall in love with language and literature all over again., I was stunned by.... The Liar's Club . Not just by its ferocity, its beauty, and by her delightful grasp of the vernacular, but by its totality--she is a woman who remembers everything about her early years....Mary Karr presents her childhood in an almost unbroken panorama., Enlightening….Fresh and heartfelt….Instructs and inspires through example and a love for the art of memoir., Reminds us not only how compelling personal stories can be, but how, in the hands of a master, they can transmute into the highest art., Karr's sassy Texas wit and her down-to-earth observations about both the memoir form and how to approach it combine to make for lively and inspiring reading. A generous and singularly insightful examination of memoir., More than a recovery memoir. Karr writes unflinchingly about marriage, class, guilt, and the struggle to make peace with her raw, melodramatic, yet wildly interesting past., Believers and nonbelievers have long been drawn to confessions, like Saint Augustine's, that read like dispatches from the knock-down drag-out encounter between God and the stubborn sinner. Lit . . . is one of those., Karr really is an artist. The Art of Memoir attests to how hard she works at getting her words just right and how deeply she understands the way great writing works., I was stunned by.... The Liar's Club . Not just by its ferocity, its beauty, and by her delightful grasp of the vernacular, but by its totality—she is a woman who remembers everything about her early years....Mary Karr presents her childhood in an almost unbroken panorama., In a gravelly, ground-glass-under-your-heel voice that can take you from laughter to awe in a few sentences, Karr has written the best book about being a woman in America I have read in years., "Karr is a national treasure--that rare genius who's also a brilliant teacher. This joyful celebration of memoir packs transcendent insights with trademark hilarity. Anyone yearning to write will be inspired, and anyone passionate to live an examined life will fall in love with language and literature all over again. " -- George Saunders "Could have been called 'The Art of Living.'" -- San Francisco Chronicle "Mary Karr has written another astonishingly perceptive, wildly entertaining, and profoundly honest book-funny, fascinating, necessary. The Art of Memoir will be the definitive book on reading and writing memoir for years to come." -- Cheryl Strayed "Should be required reading for anyone attempting to write a memoir, but anyone who loves literature will enjoy it too." -- Wall Street Journal "Terrific and deliciously readable guide." -- Entertainment Weekly, "Must List" "Full of Karr's usual wit, compassion and, perhaps most reassuringly, self-doubt. Her fans should be delighted--and they can't go wrong reading the books she discusses, including her own." -- Washington Post "From a contemporary luminary of the form, Mary Karr's The Art of Memoir examines our enduring drive to make memory speak and to 'wring some truth from this godawful mess of a single life.'" -- Vogue "The Art of Memoir is passionate and irreverent-and reminds us why we love a good memoir." -- Elle "Mary Karr strikes a vein in The Art of Memoir." -- Vanity Fair "Karr is such fun to read-who else would combine the name Nabokov and the phrase "out the wazoo" on her very first page?" -- New Yorker "Engaging." -- Chicago Tribune "A veritable blueprint for the genre.... Lovers of the form and aspiring scribblers alike will relish this comprehensive appreciation of and guide to 'writing the real self.'" -- O: The Oprah Magazine "With a trio of notable memoirs ("The Liars' Club," "Cherry," and "Lit"), Mary Karr is exquisitely qualified to write this book, a kind of compendium of advice, warning, and deep insight into what makes a personal history stick in a reader's mind." -- Boston Globe "Karr really is an artist. The Art of Memoir attests to how hard she works at getting her words just right and how deeply she understands the way great writing works." -- Slate "Whip-smart." -- Philadelphia Inquirer "As useful for those of us who want to be better friends and lovers as it is for those of us who want to pen our life story." -- More "A master class on memoir, from a memoirist who pulls no punches." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "Lots of practical advice, a great reading list, examples you can bite into." -- Houston Chronicle "Karr's own voice is consistent and authentic, as vivid, down-home, smart, profane and self-deprecating as it is in her own memoirs." -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch "A celebration of the creative life." -- Austin American-Statesman "Enlightening....Fresh and heartfelt....Instructs and inspires through example and a love for the art of memoir." -- Library Journal, starred review "Karr write[s] exquisitely...and without pretense, often with raw authenticity....a must-read." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review "Snappy and witty, humorous just when it needs to be, yet plainspoken in the best way." -- Shelf Awareness "Karr's sassy Texas wit and her down-to-earth observations about both the memoir form and how to approach it combine to make for lively and inspiring reading. A generous and singularly insightful examination of memoir." -- Kirkus, Howlingly funny…. In some ways, Lit is her most intimate book…. The overall impression is of a sorrowful narrative poem as humble and funny as it is beautiful.
